


Thank you, Brian Molko

by robotunicorncastiel



Category: Football RPF, German NT RPF, Real Person Fiction, Sports RPF
Genre: Bus, FIFA World Cup 2014, Inspired by Music, M/M, Pre-Slash, sharing earphones, yes there is When You Say Nothing At All
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-01
Updated: 2014-11-01
Packaged: 2018-02-23 11:09:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2545373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robotunicorncastiel/pseuds/robotunicorncastiel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christoph is pretty sure he couldn't have been clearer when he named the playlist of songs for traveling with the National Team "Songs for traveling with the National Team :D". He's also pretty sure Manu can read and operate an iPod. So when he hears the first chords of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" - the first song in his just as aptly named "Music for getting in the mood ;)" playlist -, he can only assume it was not an accident on the goalkeeper's part.</p><p>Neumer pre-slash, loosely inspired by a Tumblr request for fics of these two listening to music together on the Mannschaft bus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank you, Brian Molko

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: If you want to read fiction being sold off as fact, I recommend picking up a tabloid. This is a product of my vivid imagination, nothing else.

They are on the way back to the hotel now, and Christoph is glad the rain seems to have stopped for the night. The driver hadn't been kidding nor misusing his limited knowledge of English when he referred to the downpours of Recife as "monsoons". Christoph may have never been subjected to an actual monsoon, but now he had just the experience to feed his imagination. He leans against the bus window and wraps himself tighter with the light woolen blanket, also glad that the bus' air conditioner is cranked up as far as it can go. The rain has done nothing to dispel the heat outside.

"And I had heard rumors we'd arrive in winter," Manu says when he sits down on the empty seat next to Christoph, as if reading his thoughts. He throws his own blanket over his legs and places a travel pillow behind his neck, then reaches into the pocket on the back of the seat in front of Christoph's and grabs the midfielder's iPod without asking for permission.

Not that he'd have to. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, but the two of them have grown used to sharing earphones and a music taste pretty much over the course of a ten-hour flight - maybe add in two or three bus trips, if you're skeptical. Now Chris simply  _expects_ Manu to flicker through his playlists, just like he knows Manu  _expects_  him to have made said playlists, picking up songs with the goalkeeper's preferences in mind (not a difficult job, since his preferences are very much like Chris' own).

" _Don't_  put it on shuffle this time," Christoph tells him, accepting the left-ear earbud and adjusting the pillow on his back. They say it won't take as long to get back to the hotel now that the roads are clear of rain water, but he's not taking his chances. "There's a method to my madness. Some songs should be listened to one right after the other--" His words are cut short by a kick to the back of his seat. He looks through the gap between his seat and Manu's and finds Lukas holding his index finger against his lips. His other hand is holding his phone as he tries to take a selfie of himself and Bastian, who is already drooling over Lukas' shoulder (seriously, how long did it take him? Five minutes?) and seems to have stolen his blanket, too.

Christoph rolls his eyes and turns back ahead, giving way for Manu to check the scene with his own eyes. Resigned to the fact that there won't be any chatting on the trip unless he wants his seat to be kicked senseless all the way to the hotel, the young man crosses his arms under the blanket and closes his eyes, waiting for the music to lull him into an uncomfortable free trial of sleep as the bus begins to make its way into the crazy Brazilian traffic.

His peace doesn't last long, of course.

He's pretty sure he couldn't have been clearer when he named the playlist of songs for traveling with the National Team " _Songs for traveling with the National Team :D_ ". He's also pretty sure Manu can read and operate an iPod. So when he hears the first chords of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" - the first song in his just as aptly named " _Music for getting in the mood ;)_ " playlist -, he can only assume it was not an accident on the goalkeeper's part.

He opens his eyes and frowns at Manu, who just wiggles his eyebrows at him and smirks.

Chris opens his mouth to question Manu's decisions, but then he remembers Lukas behind him and reaches for his phone. He opens the notes app, types

_?????_

then turns the screen to Manu, who just shrugs and turns his attention back to the iPod. The music comes to a halt, and it takes Christoph maybe half a second to identify the bass notes of Madonna's "Erotica" reaching his left ear.

He taps another sentence, cursing between his teeth as he fixes the autocorrect and hoping Manu catches the reference.

_Mr. Neuer, are you trying to seduce me?  
_

Manu chuckles and his eyes dart quickly to Chris' lap, then he whispers, "Why, is it working?"

Chris thinks even his inner organs must have blushed. God damn Manuel Neuer and his lack of common sense and his completely  _innapropriate_  good looks and his irritating habit of saying things to Chris in a way that would be  _flirtatious_  if Chris didn't know better. But he says nothing, only huffs and shakes his head in indignation as he points to the music player, silently ordering the goalkeeper to change tracks.

Manu ignores him and continues to investigate the contents of the playlist - Chris'  _romantic_  playlist, which he prepared to be listened to when he's with his  _girlfriend_ , emphasis on  _girl_ , and which he definitely never intended to listen to in a bus full of  _dudes_ , and most particularly not when he's sharing his earphones with one of those  _dudes (and even more particularly with the one dude who makes your dick twitch_   _more often than you deem acceptable_ , his brain adds, and he feels like spending the rest of the trip in the luggage compartment).

The song changes, and at the first sound of synthethizers Chris is desperately scrambling for his phone to type:

_CHANGE IT_

He shows it to Manu, and if the goalkeeper knows the song he's at least faking well, because he frowns and pouts, shaking his head to show he has yet to identify it; and then there is the first moan of " _je t'aime, oh oui je t'aime_ ", and Manu raises his eyebrows and Chris would throw himself off the bus window if it weren't locked.

_change it. now._

he types into his phone and turns it to the other man, refusing to look at him. Manu doesn't, of course, because Recife will freeze over before Manu does as he's told. Instead, he takes Chris' phone (their fingers touch briefly and Chris wants to die) and taps a message of his own before handing it back.

_never took u 4 the has-a-sex-playlist type_

Chris rolls his eyes before typing his answer, trying to think of athlete's foot and gastroenteritis to keep his budding erection in check.

  
_u don't know me well t_ (he erases it all, shaking his head)

  
_it's not just sexy songs there's_ (he considers for a moment, deletes a few letters and settles for)

_it's not just sex_

He shows it to Manu with a petulant eyebrow raised, because when you're not feeling confident, you fake it.

Manu smirks at him and nods to the rhythm of Brian Molko's breathy whispers of " _tu vas et tu viens, entre mes reins_ ", and Chris feels like either kissing him or punching him in the dick.

Possibly both. Kissing him in t--

Yup, he definitely has a boner now.

"Just fucking change it already," he grumbles in a low voice, stealing a look at the seats behind them. Bastian is awake, gaze lost somewhere outside in the road, but now Lukas is the one trying to sleep and Bastian has an aura of "if you mess with my buddy's nap I'll rip your arms off and you'll be the first armless midfielder in the history of German football".

Chris looks at Manu again and he's mouthing " _comme la vague irrésolue_ " and making faces. (The fucker has no idea what he's doing.  _He doesn't even know French_ , Chris completes before his brain can come up with other suggestions for what it is that the goalkeeper has no idea he's doing.) He takes to typing a rapid series of messages.

_seriously change it_

Manu mouths "nein" and for God's sake what is wrong with him.

_its a fucking bedroom song_

Manu has the audacity to  _wink_.

_wow_

_sure_

_keep going baby_

He gives the goalkeeper a surly, disapproving look, and when he reacts with a laugh Chris adds

_i'm almost questioning my sexuality here_

When Manu takes the phone from his hand and hesitates before typing, the midfielder fears for a brief second that his last message didn't come out as sarcasm and that he'd actually given himself away, but then Manu's stifling a laugh and he's written

_u spelled confirming wrong_

He takes his phone back angrily, noting that the song is almost over. He just listened to the entirety of "Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus" while sitting right beside Manuel Neuer and sharing his earphones with him. If they don't win the Cup, Christoph thinks he deserves at least a "Survived His Big Gay Crisis 2k14" medal or something.

And then the next song causes him even more embarassment, despite not being anywhere close to the previous one in terms of sexual content.

Christoph looks right into Manu's eyes when Ronan Keating starts singing " _It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart..._ " and it could have been a scene out of a romantic comedy except the only sparks he feels flying between them are a flurry of  _what the actual fucks_.

_that was not supposd ot be there_

he types out hurriedly, and it really wasn't - it doesn't fit into the theme of the rest of the songs at all, he must have dragged and dropped it into the wrong playlist when he was making them. This time, however, instead of typing his words out, Manu pulls out Chris' earbud and  _whispers into his fucking ear_ , "So who were you serenading that night, hm?"

Feeling nervous and angry and ashamed, Christoph yanks the other earbud out of Manu's ear, takes the iPod off his hands and curls away from him against the bus window. He finally changes to the proper playlist he intended for them to listen all along, and puts on both earbuds on himself.

He plans on ignoring Manu for at least three songs, but before "Little Talks" is over he feels his phone vibrating on his lap (his dick is still vaguely hard, but he's intent on ignoring it as well).

There's a WhatsApp message from the goalkeeper, and it says

_4give me? :( :( :( :( :( :(_

and really, how do you say no to that.

He shifts into his seat (being careful to keep his erection well-hidden under the blanket - he's glad the bus lights are off) and hands Manu the right earbud, still looking at him warily. He feels the issue is settled, then, although Manu's apparent discomfort and not quite looking him in the eye makes Christoph fear he might have messed this up and now things will forever be awkward between them and this is why we can't have good things. But then Manu is typing, and when Chris' phones vibrates again there's two WhatsApp messages, one right after the other:

_but really thats a nice playlist_

_does what it says on the tin ;)_

and then, before he can fully comprehend that second message,

_Celina is one lucky girl._

This time it's Manu who looks almost bashful, shifting in his seat and staring at the back of the seat in front of him. Christoph is at a loss at first, unsure of what to make out of the goalkeeper's words. Then, in a bout of quick thinking, he types out a longer message and presses "send" before he changes his mind.

_did u bring ur notebook? i can save it 4 u when we get back to the hotel if u want._

And then he adds as a second thought, even though he already planned to send it when he wrote the first message,

_unless youre afraid of thinking of me when youre w ur girl ;)_

He lays his phone on his lap and looks out the window aprehensively, until he hears Manu chuckle beside him. When Christoph turns to him again, the goalkeeper has a little smile on his face - not the mocking smirk from before, but a different kind of smile Chris can't quite recognize.

"I'd love that," Manu answers loud and clear, and Bastian kicks the back of his seat.

The two of them share a quiet laugh, then settle back on their seats, Manu's right knee touching Chris' left one. The midfielder looks outside just as lightning crosses the night sky, and realizes he pretty much invited himself into Manu's room by offering to save romantic songs to his computer. And Manu... Manu seemed almost  _excited_  about it.

He looks at the iPod on his lap, notices he's still at half-mast, and realizes he's okay with that.

Smiling to himself, Christoph closes his eyes and considers writing a fan letter to Placebo's lead singer.

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after the Germany x USA match during the 2014 World Cup. Remember the one where they were basically playing water polo instead of football? Yeah, that one.  
> I don't think Christoph is a big fan of Placebo, but neither am I, and here I am naming fanfic after the guy. If that isn't stopping me, it shouldn't stop our favorite lost puppy either.  
> Of course I made playlists. Here's [the romantic one](http://open.spotify.com/user/prudencechan/playlist/2EwHSdAa3GWDL91o575Ilb), and here's the one to listen with the dude (although I feel these two categories might overlap after the events in this fic ;D).  
> Of course Christoph is a compulsive emoticon user.  
> Of course I had to include some Schweinski into it somehow.


End file.
